


Tricks Of Love

by littleredwing89



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Arkham - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Fusion, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Language, Light Angst, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:01:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29487174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleredwing89/pseuds/littleredwing89
Summary: Hermes!Dick Grayson X Reader Series (Spin off Series to House Always Wins) - "The nagging feeling of his own loneliness gnawed away at the corner of his mind. No matter how many adventures, how many holidays, how far he travelled the globe or how many hours he worked to distract himself, he always found his mind wandering back to the same question. When would he find his own true love? When would he feel that spark, the flames of passion burning bright and never ending?"
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Original Female Character(s), Dick Grayson & Reader, Dick Grayson x Reader, Dick Grayson x Y/N, Dick Grayson/Reader, Hermes!Dick Grayson - Relationship, Hermes!Dick Grayson x Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	1. Part One

**TRICKS OF LOVE – CHAPTER 1**

_Hermes!Dick Grayson X Reader Series_

_(Spin off Series to House Always Wins)  
_

**Warnings – Language. Fluff.**

***

_“Some stories aren’t epic novels. Some are short stories, but that doesn’t make them any less filled with love”._

***

Taking a large sip of his wine, Dick placed the goblet back on one of the nearby tables. Jason really had pulled out all the stops for this party. _‘The Festival of Spring’_. Everyone was celebrating. The whole castle was bustling with excitement and happiness. The Queen of the Underworld has finally returned. Spring had arrived and that meant 6 long months of pure bliss. Dick smiled looking towards his brother and his wife. He’d never seen either of them so happy. They were perfect for each other. Brought together by the golden threads of destiny.

Dick was delighted for them both. He really was. But, the nagging feeling of his own loneliness gnawed away at the corner of his mind. No matter how many adventures, how many holidays, how far he travelled the globe or how many hours he worked to distract himself, he always found his mind wandering back to the same question. When would he find his own true love? When would he feel that spark, the flames of passion burning bright and never ending? 

***

Almost about to give in for the evening and head home, his eye caught an incredibly beautiful woman dancing in the middle of the floor. Her satin dress clung to her body like it was painted on. Made only for her, showing off her exquisite curves. Dick swallowed, tracking her every motion. She danced like Terpsichore had taught her, herself. Maybe she was related to Apollo. The way she curled her body and spun so effortlessly; it was a graceful talent he’d rarely witnessed. It was nothing short of perfection. She had to be Greek. The dance was old. Classical.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her arms elegantly lifted above her head and she whirled around, never missing a step. Dick couldn’t help but be hypnotised by her. Her hair was braided to one side, allowing the length of her hair to spill over to one side, exposing her beautiful, slim neck. She had several yellow flowers weaved into her plait, matching the flowered bracelet around her wrist. Each flick of her body drew him closer. Desperately wanting to hold her. Dance with her. He knew he couldn’t take it any longer. He needed to be in her aura. _Now._

***

Dick threw himself into the fray in the middle of the ballroom. He was desperate to get closer to the mysterious dancer in the centre of the room. Dancing like the music owned her soul.

Y/N eyed Dick edging closer to her and turned her body away from him, closing her eyes, focusing on the steady rhythm of the bass.

Finally making his way through the sea of people, Dick tugged Y/N by her wrist gently, spinning her to face him. He gave her a dazzling smile as he moved in time with the music.

Y/N recognised him immediately. It was hard to miss the golden winged trainers and gilded leaf crown sat atop of his messy dark hair. She’d heard many stories about the God of Travel and Thieves. Some good. Some bad. Up close she noticed the golden glow of his eyes. The glittery specs in his irises drew her deeper into him. The tales didn’t do him justice. He was another level of handsome. Moving into his arms, she gave him a coy smile back. Allowing the music to flow through them both, Y/N snaked her arms around his neck, never missing a step.

As the song ended, she unravelled herself from his arms and moved backwards, “Thank you for the dance, my Lord”.

Dick let his fingertips brush down the bare skin of her arm as she pulled herself away from him, “Where do you think you’re going?”.

She laughed and her feather light steps carried her further away from him. Y/N didn’t answer him. 

“Don’t leave me darling”, he tried to link his fingers around her wrist, but she was too quick.

Y/N slipped through his hold and bit her lip, “I guess you’ll have to come and catch me”.

With that she turned and danced into the crowd, throwing him a teasing smile over her shoulder.

Smirking, Dick followed her through the crowds, captivated by the soft glances she was giving him. Y/N occasionally looked behind her, glimpsing the light bouncing off his golden crown. She giggled and dipped into another direction, watching him struggle to follow her.

“Not so fast darling”, Dick grinned and caught her hand in his, interlocking their fingers instantly, “Come back”.

He laughed and pulled her into his embrace and allowed his free hand to settle at the bottom of her back, “One more dance?”.

Dick spun her out dramatically, he felt her try to untangle herself from him, but it was half hearted. She was enjoying this as much as him. He could tell by the look in her eyes and the feel of her pulse under the pads of his fingers as he stroked her wrist.

Tugging her back into his chest, he winked down at her, keeping her pressed tightly into him, “I’ve got you now”.

“It seems you have”, she smoothed her hand over the front of his shirt, the cotton soft against her skin, “What will you do with me?”.

Dick spun her around his arms again and then dipped her to the floor. He felt her gasp softly and smiled down at her, “You ok there?”. Catching the sparkle in her eye, Dick brushed his nose against hers, feeling their breaths mingle together.

Her heart stuttered at the soft gesture, “As long as you don’t drop me, I’ll be perfectly fine”, she squeezed his left shoulder.

He tugged her up, keeping her close, “I wouldn’t dream of it”.

The music changed into a slow ballad, the piano melody delicately wrapping around their entwined bodies. Swaying with her softly, Dick wrapped both of his arms around her waist humming lowly to the tune. 

Dick stroked his hands up her spine. Her dress was backless allowing the expanse of her skin free to touch. His fingertips tracing along her smooth skin and Dick felt her shiver against his touches, “Do I get a name to go with your beautiful face?”.

Shivering under the graze of his fingers, Y/N murmured, “And what will that cost me?”.

“Hmmmm”, he pretended to think hard, biting his bottom lip playfully.

Y/N giggled quietly and tapped the side of his temple, “Don’t strain yourself”.

Dick chuckled and allowed his hands to travel back down, resting against her Venus dimples, “A lifetime supply of entertainment?”.

Y/N leaned in towards him, her lips millimetres away from his, “I don’t know if that’s a good enough deal”.

Dick brushed his lips softly against hers, the touch innocent and gentle, “What about a kiss then?”.

Her breath caught in her throat as his lips passed hers, the sparks of passion dancing in the pit of her stomach, “I thought you were trying to persuade me, not put me off”.

“Ouch!”, Dick laughed deeply and pinched her waist playfully, “You’re lucky you’re so beautiful”.

Y/N gasped as he pinched her and started to giggle, “It’s just so easy to make fun of you, my Lord”.

Dick smirked, keeping a tight hold of her, almost frightened to let her go, “You sound just like my friends”.

They continued to sway in time to the music and he dipped his head down to hers, whispering into the shell of her ear, “Please may I have your name…I need to know the name of the woman who has captured my interest”.

Y/N felt her cheeks heat up at his compliment. Her heart pounded nervously. Dick wasn’t the first man to charm her. But he was definitely the most attractive who’d tried.

“You want my name?”, she pulled away slightly allowing the cool night air to pass between them.

Dick was quick and pulled her back, pressing his cheek to hers, “Yes”, he breathed into her ear lightly, “Otherwise I’ll just have to think of an adorable nickname…Angel”.

Y/N reluctantly pulled herself back and gazed up into his eyes. She felt like she was drowning in them.

“I have a proposal for you”, she watched his eyebrow quirk up in interest, “Solve this riddle and meet me at the answer”.

Dick felt his palms become sweaty. His mind was running a hundred miles a second. Overthinking the riddle. It felt simple but his mind was weaving thousands of different answers. What if he got it wrong? He didn’t want her to slip through his fingers. He’d never felt a spark like this before. Not in all his years on Earth and Olympus.

“Ok”.

Y/N leaned up onto her tip toes and whispered serenely into his ear, “In Rome one’s most famous, the New World’s brings you youth. Many seek the wellspring, the leads to the truth”.

Pulling back, she saw the cogs turning behind his deep golden eyes. She giggled softly and placed a chaste kiss to his cheek, “ _Meet me there at midnight_ ”.

Slipping through his grip she turned into the crowd and vanished, leaving Dick standing there dumbfounded. The riddle had confused him but the kiss to his cheek had set his entire soul on fire.

***

Threading his way back through the crowds, Dick settled at the side with Jason and Persephone, who were wrapped up in each other’s arms. He coughed obnoxiously, clearing his throat, alerting them to his presence.

“And what do we owe this interruption?”, Jason mused looking across at Dick.

Shuffling on his feet, Dick glanced between them both, “I need your help”.

Persephone turned around in Jason’s arms and looked directly at Dick, an eyebrow raised in surprise, “Since when did you ever need help? I thought you were, and I quote here, _the smartest man alive_ ”.

“I am…but”, Dick huffed looking around the ballroom, he’d lost sight of the beautiful woman he’d been dancing with, “look it’s really important… _please_ ”.

“What is it?”, she pressed and rested her palm on Jason’s chest. Her diamond ring glittering in the amber candlelight.

Dick gulped nervously, “I need help with solving a riddle”.

Persephone giggled unable to help herself.

“Don’t laugh Petal…you know riddles aren’t my strong point”, Dick huffed.

“Nothing is your strong point”, Jason quipped causing Persephone to snort before covering her mouth.

Dick scowled at Jason and tipped his head back in exasperation, “I came here for help, not for mockery!”.

“Ignore him”, Persephone grinned, “Go on, tell us this riddle”.

Dick repeated the riddle to them both, “ _In Rome one’s most famous, the New World’s brings you youth. Many seek the wellspring, the leads to the truth_ ”.

Jason and Persephone shared a glance, a smile creeping onto both of their faces. Beautifully in sync.

Dick looked between them both panic lacing his handsome face, “Help me…I’m not smart enough for this!”.

Jason smirked smugly, “I thought you were supposed to be the most intelligent of the Gods?! Didn’t you outsmart Zeus?”.

Persephone laughed, her cheeks rosy, “My King, I don’t think his brain is performing properly…I think that beautiful girl has made him malfunction...you know how he gets around beautiful things...”.

Jason coiled his arm around his wife’s waist and pulled her into his side kissing her cheek, “You know how I get around beautiful things”, he growled against her skin.

“Please don’t do this in front of me”, Dick frowned, pretending to throw up, “Neither of you are helping me!”.

Jason pulled his face back from his wife’s neck and sighed at Dick, “Use your upstairs brain! Think about it. I’m not just going to give you the answer. You’ve got to earn it”.

Persephone smoothed her hand down Jason’s spine, enjoying watching him shiver under her feathery touch, “Show pity my love, you know he lacks those kinds of brain cells”.

Jason barked out a loud laugh.

Dick glowered, “I am here you know”.

“With all the travelling you’ve done Grayson, I really thought you’d know the answer”, Jason husky laughter echoed around Dick, “come on, really think about it! How many times have you been to Rome?!”.

Dick felt himself flapping under the pressure, desperate to get the correct answer and learn more about the mysterious beauty he’d had in his arms, “The Colosseum?!”.

Persephone cringed and put her head into her heads, “ _By the Gods…_ ”.

“ **What?!?!** ”, Dick exclaimed, unaware of his ridiculously comical answer.

Jason continued to chuckle and pressed a kiss to his wife’s cheek, “I don’t think we should give him the answer, we should be trying to save this young girl from Dick and his _advances_ ”.

“ _No one saved me from your advances, my King_ ”, Persephone whispered breathily into his ear.

Before Jason could retort, Dick jumped up waving a finger between them both, “Ahh, ahh, ahh!! Come on! Remember the last six months?? Who helped you hmmm? **Me!! I did!** ”.

Persephone grinned cheekily and looked up at Jason, fluttering her thick eyelashes, “Come on my love”.

Jason softened as Persephone stroked his chest before turning to face his brother, “Fine…I’ll give you a clue – but that’s it!”.

Dick nodded happily, “Anything!!”.

“Water”, Jason said simply, offering no further information.

“What?”, Dick scrunched his face up in confusion, “What kind of a clue is that?!”.

Jason repeated his clue, smiling brightly, “ _Water_ ”. He waited for the words to sink in. 

Persephone smiled in sympathy watching Dick flounder in front of them both, not understanding the clue given to him, “Dick…go meet her by the **fountain** ”.

Watching as the answer suddenly struck him; he kissed Persephone’s forehead, “Thanks so much Petal!!!”.

Dick raced off leaving Jason with his arms around Persephone’s waist. He pressed a light kiss to her neck and murmured, “You’re too sweet to him, my Queen”.

Persephone hummed softly, “Maybe…”, she ran her fingers softly through the back of his hair, “Or maybe I’m just weak for a new love story”.

***

Making his way through the excited crowds, Dick stepped outside into the cold night air. It was a welcome change on his flushed, warm skin. Maybe he’d had one too many glasses of nectar. Working his way around the flower beds, he pulled out a simply yellow rose before walking across to the beautiful, black granite waterfall.

Dick smiled as he saw Y/N sat on the edge of the water fountain looking up at the dark night, starry sky. The soft trickles of water soothed his nerves as he edged closer to her, ensuring his footsteps were louder than usual so she wasn’t startled by his appearance.

“There you are Angel”, Dick called out, his voice cheerful and sweet.

Y/N jumped and turned to face him with a little smirk on her face, her hand was lightly stroking through the clear waters of the fountain.

Clearing his throat, Dick pointed to the ornate feature behind her, “The answer to your riddle is fountain”.

“So, you really are the most intelligent of the Gods”, Y/N winked at him, the teasing in her voice made him smile.

Dick clicked his tongue impishly, “Ahhh, that was an easy riddle” he winked, keeping his hands securely behind his back.

Y/N tilted her head to the side, an angelic smile on her face, “Really? You sure you didn’t need any help?”.

“I-I think you’re stalling”, Dick stuttered.

Y/N dipped her fingers deeper into the water of the fountain, “You seemed like you were having a rather tense conversation with the King and Queen”, her head was hung low as she smiled to herself.

Dick brushed it off with a cheeky laugh, “Ahhh you saw that?”, he stepped closer to her, “I was just asking when I was going to become an uncle”.

Standing up, she brushed out her dress smoothing down the soft satin, “A truly serious matter”.

“It is”, he looked up at the stars, they twinkled down at him, “They know how much I want to be an uncle….they’re taking far too long in my opinion”, Dick looked back down at Y/N and smiled admiring her dress.

Y/N giggled and watched him stepping closer with his hands hidden behind him, “What are you hiding my Lord?”.

Dick twirled the yellow rose in his fingers delicately, keeping it securely out of her vision, “I need a name first Angel”.

Y/N fidgeted, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She twisted her wrist following a slow ballet movement in her mind, organising her scattered thoughts, “Y/N”, she whispered softly, her accent shining through.

Dick repeated her name, allowing the syllables to roll off his tongue effortlessly, “Y/N”, he used the same accent as her.

She felt her heart twist, Y/N hadn’t heard her name spoken that way in centuries, “Y-yes my Lord”.

“Call me Dick, please”, he smiled brightly, taking the last step to bring him directly in front of her. He twisted his arm slowly and presented the yellow rose between them, holding it out to her, “ _A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet_ …”.

Y/N looked at the rose and then up into Dick’s golden eyes, watching the specs of gold glimmer like diamonds. She plucked the rose carefully from his hand, a sad look sweeping across her face.

“Is-is something – are you ok Angel?”, Dick asked quietly, the worry seeping through him.

She shook her head, “Oh no!”, Y/N brought the rose to her nose and inhaled deeply, “Just…from the tales I’ve heard, I didn’t expect you to be such the romantic”.

Dick rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “Yeah…all the bad stories tend to circulate quicker than the more _redeeming_ ones”.

Y/N felt a twinge of guilt swim in the pit of her stomach, “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, that was rude of me”.

“Don’t worry Angel”, Dick placed his hand over hers which was wrapped around the stem of the rose, “Maybe…”, he took a deep breath, “Maybe I can…I don’t know…maybe I can stop by sometimes and tell you some stories of my own…”.

“I’d like that”, she whispered, tugging on one of the yellow petals.

Dick let his eyes roam over her, taking in every feature he could consume quickly. He’d never seen a beauty like her before. She made him nervous. He couldn’t describe exactly how she made him feel. But it felt like nothing before.

“I guess you live in one of the villages down here?”.

Y/N nodded at him, a little smile graced her lips, “Yes, I have a small home down in the village of Blὒdhaven”.

Dick smiled at the name. He’d passed through on the odd occasion when carrying out errands for Jason down in the Underworld.

“It’ll be nothing like Olympus I’m sure”, fidgeting nervously, she spun the rose in her hands looking up to meet his deep, golden orbs.

Dick let out a heavy sigh, “Thank heavens it isn’t”.

Y/N frowned, confused with his reaction, “What? You’re not a fan of the luxury?”.

“Trust me…it’s not luxury when you’re in the company of _Hera_ ….”, he shuddered, running a hand through his dark hair, ruffling it slightly.

Y/N giggled before sucking her bottom lip between her teeth, “I have heard _many_ stories of Queen Hera too”.

Dick smirked, “ **All** of the bad ones are true!”.

She continued to giggle, covering her mouth with her hand. Dick smiled brightly watching her laugh. The sound caused his heart to beat more rapidly. Almost soaring back towards Olympus.

“You know, you really are beautiful when you laugh Y/N”, he tucked a stray strand of hair around her ear, letting the pads of his fingers stroke across her cheek.

Blushing deeply, Y/N looked down at her feet.

Dick slid his hand under her chin and tilted her face up to meet his, “I hope I hear more of it when I come visit you”.

The gold of his eyes swirled vibrantly as he looked down into hers, her stomach dipped like she was on a high-speed roller coaster. It had been centuries since she had felt like this. She was scared. She felt her mind trying to clam up and push him away. To shield herself. Protect her already fragile heart. But she stopped it, taking a deep calming breath, “I can’t wait”.

Dick leaned down and kissed her cheek, murmuring into her ear, “ _Until then, Angel_ ”.

***


	2. Part 2

**TRICKS OF LOVE – CHAPTER 2**

_Hermes!Dick Grayson X Reader Series_

**Warnings – Language. Fluff. Light Angst. Mentions of Death.**

***

Even as the centuries passed, the starry night sky of the underworld never ceased to amaze Y/N. The constellations glittered down at her, whispering famous stories of heroes and legends. Her eyes glanced over the mighty Heracles, forever immortal within the night sky. She smiled to herself remembering the tale of his labours. It had been one of her favourite stories as a child. Her mother would tell her of it when she was tucked into bed. 

“You know Angel, underneath Heracles is Draco...I’ve heard some astronomers argue that even in immortal afterlife he’s still slaying mythical beasts”.

Dick’s voice startled her, and she turned around to see him propped up against her wooden porch way. A look of serenity covering his beautiful face.

“You came?”, she questioned. A little shocked by his appearance.

Dick winked and moved towards her, a light spring in his step, “Of course I did, I made a promise to come visit you and”, he twirled dramatically, “here I am”.

Y/N snorted trying to hide the small smile on her lips, “You’re such a dork”.

“True, but an adorable one nonetheless”, he grinned and sat down next to her on the love seat outside of her front door.

”Hmmm, I don’t know about the adorable part”, she joked and nudged his shoulder playfully as he settled down next to her. His body radiated warmth.

“It’s ok Angel, we’re not at that stage yet where it’s ok to admit I’m super sexy and adorable”, Dick winked again wrapping an arm around the back of the bench slipping it around her shoulders casually, “But we will get there”.

“High hopes you have”, Y/N bit her lip but curled into his body as though she’d been doing it for centuries. It felt so natural.

Dick clasped a palm on her upper arm and stroked along it slowly, humming to himself, “Just a feeling I get when I’m with you”.

A silence settled between them. It was comfortable as they basked in each other’s company. The lull of the crickets in the distance rendering them both into a happy, peaceful state.

“Have you travelled anywhere nice lately? It’s been over a week since the festival”, Y/N fiddled with the hem of her dress.

“Funny you should ask actually”, Dick planted a light kiss to her temple before realising what he had done. He was about to apologise but she smiled up at him, a rosy pink scattering across her freckled cheeks. He felt his own cheeks tint pink before he fiddled around in his inside jacket pocket. He fished out an A5 piece of colourful card adorned with a beautiful rainforest photo on the front.

“I errr, I brought this for you, to show you my travels”, Dick handed the postcard to her carefully. Cursing inwardly noticing one of the corners was crumpled due to its transportation in his jacket, “Sorry it’s crumpled...”, he mumbled bashfully.

Her eyes scanned over the photo in awe, “Wow”, she stroked the photo and then looked up into his own eyes “it’s perfect Dick...wow...this is so beautiful!! Where did you go!? Tell me all about it... please!!”.

Dick chuckled and pointed to the front of the postcard, “This is El Yunque National Forest”, his voice took on a Spanish-esque accent as he pronounced it for her, “It’s in Puerto Rico”.

Y/N frowned a little, “P-Puerto Rico?”.

“Yeah, it’s a tropical little place in South America”.

She nodded and looked back down at the luscious green forest. It was a truly stunning sight.

“You know”, Dick started, “There is a tribe of people who live in the forest and they believe that this forest was the throne to their chief God, Yucahu”.

The face Y/N pulled was nothing short of adorable and cause Dick to smile widely, he edged closer to her and continued, “So this”, he pointed to the forest, “Is the Caribbean equivalent to Mount Olympus”.

“That’s fascinating”, she pictured the rest of the forest in her mind. Tropical flowers and magnificent cascading waterfalls, “T-thank you for showing me”.

She went to hand him back the postcard and Dick shook his head, “No darling, I brought that specifically for you...it’s yours to keep”.

Her smile was so bright and he felt his heart flutter.

Clutching the postcard tightly, Y/N leaned up and kissed his cheek, “I’ll pin it to my wall, thank you”.

Dick knew this time his cheeks would be bright red from her kiss and he seemingly noticed a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“When am I-”, she paused and stopped herself, swallowing her words, nervous almost. She didn’t want to appear too keen.

Dick understood and took her hand in his, brushing his thumb over her wrist, “I’ll be back soon”.

Lifting her hand up, he kissed her pulse point and smiled softly, “I’ll return soon and I’ll have another postcard for you, I promise”.

He noticed the nervous look in her eyes and squeezed her wrist reassuringly, “You’re going to struggle to keep me away from you, Angel”.

***

His second visit caught Y/N by surprise. Even though Dick had been nothing short of romantic so far, she still expected his extravagant gestures to stop. She had been dancing in her kitchen to a piece of classical harp music at the time, her eyes closed peacefully listening to the bars of the music. Dick coughed to catch her attention, grinning when her eyes met his.

“You are a beautiful dancer”, he said honestly, resting against the kitchen door frame, watching her.

She blushed and brushed off his compliment, “You think too highly of my skills”.

Dick shook his head and moved across the room towards her, taking her hand and spinning her around playfully, “I have witnessed many dancers, and none are as naturally talented as you”.

Cheeks turning crimson, Y/N looked at their connected hands, giving his a light squeeze of thanks.

“So where have you been to this time handsome?”, she smiled twirling in his arm and letting go briefly to make them both a cup of coffee.

Dick flushed at the nickname before regaining his composure, clearing his throat, “Oh, I’ve been to China”.

He laid the postcard down next to her and she rattled round the kitchen surface, stirring in the hot water calmly. Looking over the postcard photo, Y/N titled her head in curiosity. The photograph showed the entrance of the cave deep in a mountain set. The mouth of the cave covered again with rich green foliage, nothing like she’d ever seen in her life. She was speechless. The spoon sat in one of the mugs motionless as she stared at the photo in wonder.

“You went in there?!”, she asked incredulously, “That looks so daunting!!”.

“Ahhh, that’s nothing for me, I’ve done much scarier things”, he boasted playfully and stepped next to her, letting his arm rub against hers as he finished making their coffee.

“Like what?”.

“Err”, Dick scrunched his face and his nose twitched in thought, “I swam with some sharks last year. That was pretty scary”.

“By the gods!”, she gasped loudly in shock and an impressed look covered her face. Dick held off telling her that they were in fact _baby sharks_. Baby sharks no longer than the length of his calf and the water was barely up to his knees. She didn’t need to know the finer details. The way she was looking at him right now, he wanted to keep cemented there forever.

Changing the subject quickly, Dick handed Y/N her cup of coffee, “This cave I visited, Er Wang Dong Cave”, he brushed his thumb over the photo on the card, “It’s so big, that it has its own weather system”.

“Really?”, Y/N took a sip of her coffee and sighed happily. _How did Dick know just how she liked her coffee? It was like he’d known her all her life._

Dick nodded, “Yeah and the tour guide said they predict the local weather based on observations from the cave…So, if it's foggy in the cave, they usually predict that rain is expected”.

Y/N watched him intently as he continued to speak with unbridled enthusiasm. She ran her eyes over his face and smiled, he was completely adorable when he was talking about something that excited him. His entire being lit up and joy radiated off him. He was incredibly hard to be sad around. She would never admit it but, since his last visit, she had been looking out for him. Any sign of him.

“It’s like a real-life snow globe!!”, he exclaimed. 

“A snow globe? What’s one of those?”, Y/N queried. Modern technology was lost on her. She’d been down here for so long, it’d been easier to stick to her own world. Her own culture. And with no one to show her any different, she hadn’t ventured too far.

“Oh-Oh!!”, Dick buzzed with excitement, “It’s this round glass globe filled with water and usually like fake snowflakes and you shake it to imitate snowfall”.

He made the shaking motion for her and grinned happily.

Y/N giggled at him and took her hand in his, linking their fingers together delicately, “These _snow globes_ sound cute”. Her accent wrapped around the foreign word making Dick smile.

Dick swallowed nervously, his palms felt clammy and he hoped she hadn’t noticed. _Or thought he was some kind of uncontrollable, sweaty idiot._

“Maybe I err-”, Dick swallowed again and bit his bottom lip, “Maybe I can bring you one back next time?”.

Dick noticed out of the corner of his eye the postcard from last month pinned to her wall. The shelf next to it was covered with tiny Greek trinkets. Probably things she had picked up from the market in the nearby city.

“That sounds perfect. I’d like to see one of these…err…snow globes”.

Pressing a kiss to the back of her hand, he smiled more, “ _Anything for you_ ”.

***

In a puff of golden smoke, Dick appeared at the bottom of her garden path, his smile endearing as she saw her relaxing on the wooden bench out front reading a book. Every time he saw her, he couldn’t stop the spark of emotion brewing within him. It’d be three months but it felt so much longer. She seemed to shine whenever he looked at her. She really was like an Angel. _His own personal Angel._

At the sound of his arrival, she looked up with her own equally bright smile, “Well, _hello you_ ”, Y/N placed her book down on the bench, “You must have been somewhere warm, you’ve definitely caught the sun”.

Dick chuckled and made his way up the steps flopping down beside her, stretching out his long legs, his golden trainers catching the beams of moonlight from the starry night sky, “Actually, I’ve been somewhere very special”.

Y/N raised her eyebrow, curiosity swimming in her eyes, “Oh? Really? _Where_?”.

Rustling around in his jacket before producing a postcard of the Parthenon. Dick handed it across to her grinning happily, “I went _home_ ”.

“Home?”.

He nodded happily and pointed to the picture of the ruins of Parthenon, “I went to Athens…I went to see the old temple…it was built to-”.

“ **Athena** …it was built in honour of Athena…the patron of the – well, my city”, Y/N finished his sentence and took the card from his hands shakily.

She looked down at the postcard in her hand and tried not to crumple it. The photo staring back at her brought back so many memories. Dancing outside of the temple with flowered necklaces and head dresses. Celebrating. Laughing. And to see the once magnificent temple in ruins made her heart sink. Maybe she was silly expecting it last the test of time. It was only made of stone. She sighed sadly and looked out onto the fields. Looking over the picture, her mind was awash with emotion. _Her old life. Her old family. Her old love…_ It was where she met _him_. _Him…her heart sank through her body and she felt sick._

Dick ran his hand over the back of hers, “Talk to me Angel…I miss your smile already…what’s wrong?”. He felt his stomach churn with sickness, worried he had upset her somehow.

Y/N looked down at the photograph and then back towards Dick’s handsome face, “Dick…”, she took a breath.

Dick unable to hold back any longer pulled Y/N into his lap and wrapped his arms around her tightly as they sat on the bench outside of her home, “It’s ok…take your time”.

“When I was alive… _I-I loved someone_ ”.

“Did-Did”, Dick chose his words carefully, “Did he hurt you?”.

Resting into his embrace and she felt his hand running along her spine, Y/N sighed, “He-He’s the reason I’m here…”.

Dick felt his Olympian temper flare, his golden eyes flashing white. He considered speaking to Jason and finding him. Teaching him a lesson. How dare this _wretched human male_ touch her. Hurt her...and even to go as far as killing her. He had to count to ten. He needed to calm down, not wanting to frighten her.

Y/N continued and traced a vein on the back of Dick’s hand resting on her thigh, “I never found out the true reason why…it’s always been hearsay”.

Dick nodded, continuing to stroke his free hand up and down her back softly, the sensations soothing her. She felt safe.

“My family came from money…we used to live in a large white villa in Athens…so, over the years, I’ve made my assumptions as to why he did it, why he so easily stabbed me in the back...quite literally”.

Dick went to say something but stopped as her delicate finger pressed to his lips.

She shook her head and smiled at him, “Shh…don’t worry, I’ve put this all behind me. It’s nothing but history”.

He didn’t say anything further but pulled her into his chest, pressing her head against his heart. Dick lightly kissed the top of her head and hummed, wondering if she could hear his heart beating. How fast it beat for her. _Only for her._ How quickly she had weaved into his heart and settled. Dick knew it’d only been a few months but, he knew his feelings were unrivalled to anything he’d even experienced before. That was the funny thing about time.

_Time._

Humans were the only species on the planet to measure time so precisely. So intricately.

_Days. Hours. Minutes. Seconds._

Everything had a stamp. A date.

Some people gave things limits based on time. How long do you wait until you make the first call for a date? How long do you wait until you move in together? How long do you wait until you propose marriage? But why? Why did there have to be a time frame. What was the point? For the fraction of time humans spent on the Earth, why did they measure it so closely? Why? Why measure it so closely when anything, anything could happen within a split second. Dick’s mind had rambled on with itself. Only to come to the short conclusion that he was irrevocably in love with the woman in his arms.

***

“Wow...”.

Y/N ran her hands over the fourth postcard Dick had brought back for her. The scene took her breath away. A beautiful underwater world that probably only a handful of lucky people would ever witness. All the colours of the rainbow shone back at her. An astounding amount of coral with beautiful golden fish swimming amongst it made her smile. Her fingers traced over the photo with wonder. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from it. The way the light shone through the surface of the water made the image appear heavenly. Almost as though Poseidon himself had blessed the picture.

“It’s the Great Barrier Reef”, Dick wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and rested his head against her shoulder, “I’ve never seen anything like it before”.

“It’s truly magnificent”, she murmured and turned her head to him, kissing his cheek softly, “Where is this...Great Barrier Reef?”.

“Australia”, Dick felt his cheek tingle at her kiss and blushed, “The reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms”.

Y/N smiled, “Nature truly is amazing”.

“Almost as amazing as you”, Dick flirted playfully and spun her around in his arms, still keeping his hold on her waist.

“Such a charmer”, Y/N smirked and coiled her arms around his neck, keeping a tight hold of the precious postcard.

“Only for you Angel”, he winked and leaned down, running his nose along hers gently.

Pulling back for a moment, Y/N looked beyond his handsome face and back at the scenic photo on the postcard.

“I took some photos too, if you’d like to see them?”, he offered.

Prying herself from his arms reluctantly, she nodded and moved to add the postcard with the others he’d brought her. She pinned it up on her wall, a bright smile beaming on her face. Dick was painting a picture of the world she’d never got to see. A world she’d always wanted to travel. These snapshots only fuelled her growing wanderlust.

As she turned round, Dick had laid out several photographs on her kitchen table, grinning proudly at the one in the centre.

Y/N cast her eyes to the photo and felt her face flame up with an unknown heat. Dick was standing on a white sandy beach, his dark locks curled from the sea wearing nothing but a ridiculous pair of Hawaiian tropical print board shorts. They hung low on his hips showing off his toned abs and a dusky trail of dark hair leading south. She felt her mouth run dry as her eyes travelled over his sculpted tanned skin.

Either Dick was been humble or he didn’t know how flustered she’d become staring at his topless beach photo. When Y/N focused back on the real-life Dick besides her, she realised he'd been talking non-stop for the last ten minutes and she hadn’t heard a word he’d said.

“You ok there, Y/N? You seemed a little spaced out”, he rubbed her lower back gently. 

She nodded quickly, maybe a little too quick and blushed slightly, “Yeah!! Yeah...I’m fine, I was just admiring all of your photos...Australia looks beautiful, you’re so lucky to have visited”.

“It is spectacular but...I’ve seen much more beautiful things”, Dick edged closer and let fingertips trace up her bare arm, “like **you** ”.

Y/N giggled as his touch made her ticklish. She captured his hand with her own and brought it to her lips, kissing the pads of Dick’s fingers softly, “You really are a charmer, aren’t you?”, she locked her eyes onto his and smiled.

Shivering at her kisses, he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip before dipping down to hold her chin, “Like I said…only ever for you”.

His touch made her feel alive. Like electricity pulsing underneath her skin. Y/N looked up into his eyes and at that moment, felt like she’d been struck by the arrow of Eros. She bit her bottom lip, stopping the words falling from her lips.

_‘I love you’._

She was scared. The last time she said those words, she ended up here. Her life had been cruelly ripped away from her. She swallowed the confession and continued to stare up at him, admiring the beautiful specks of gold. Leaning up, Y/N placed a chaste kiss to the corner of his lips, “I can’t wait to see what else you show me Dick”.

“I’ll show you the world”, he promised and pulled her into his chest, holding her tightly to him.

***

As Dick made his way through the bustling Underworld market, he was completely caught off guard by the hand that clasped onto his shoulder. It was a hard, tight grip and he spun around in shock.

“ _What the fu_ \- **Jason!!** ”, Dick gasped and clutched his heart over his chest. His heart was pounding. It wasn’t often Dick was snuck up upon, but he had to admit, his mind had been wandering a lot lately. _Wandering to thoughts of Y/N_.

Jason laughed deeply and frowned, a genuine look of confusion spreading across his face, “Are you dead?”.

“What?”, Dick was still recovering from the shock and felt his brow furrow.

“Did you die on your last trip?”, Jason asked casually ignoring the hustle and bustle around them both.

“What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind? Is Persephone around here, I think she needs to take you home to lie down”, Dick snarked and looked around. Wherever Jason was, Persephone didn’t tend to be far away, unless she was in the Upper world. 

Jason smirked darkly and tugged his suit jacket, buttoning it up, “It’s just you spend so much time down here I started to think you’d died and passed on into the Underworld”.

Dick rolled his eyes and sighed, “Ha-ha very funny…don’t give up your day job to be a comedian, will you?”.

“So, who is she? Which one of my souls are you pestering?”.

Dick felt an unknown temper flare, a protective burst erupting from him, “Her soul isn’t _yours_ ”.

Jason raised an eyebrow, shocked at his brothers sudden burst of anger, “I-”, he paused briefly, choosing his next words carefully, “You know I didn’t mean it like that Dick”.

“Sorry”, Dick ran a hand through his messy locks and flushed pink, “She-she’s just-”.

“I get it”, Jason offered him a smile. A real smile. One people rarely saw besides his wife.

“It’s the woman from the festival”, Dick admitted, “I’ve – I’ve been visiting each month, I was actually just making my way across to her now…”.

Jason chuckled and looked across at one of the street vendors selling golden jewellery, "How did you fall in love so quickly?".

The jovial smile made its way back onto Dick’s face and he winked, “Because I don't always wait until the woman hates my guts before I make them fall in love with me”.

“She didn’t hate me”, Jason glowered at Dick.

“No, no, sorry, of course not”, Dick answered sarcastically, “Just strongly disliked”.

Jason sighed deeply, “God you’re a pain in the ass”.

Dick grinned cheekily, patting his brother on the shoulder, “Part of my job”.

***

It had been 5 months since Dick started with his little visits. Y/N smiled as she looked at the wall in her kitchen, four beautiful postcards decorated it. Small snippets of his adventures around the globe that he had shared with her. Each visit he seemed to go more and more out of his way to show her the beauty of the world she never got to see. Y/N stroked her fingers over the pictures, closing her eyes and imagining herself there alongside Dick. Exploring the far corners of the world with him. Her heart ached knowing she would never get that pleasure.

She heard the floorboards creak behind her before he spoke, “Mornin’ Angel”.

Turning around, she opened her eyes and faced Dick, she bit the inside of her bottom lip slightly. His mere presence made her giddy like a small child on Christmas morning.

“Don’t hide that beautiful smile”, he grinned and headed across to her giving her a little wink.

Y/N looked over him and noticed the snow jacket he was wearing along with a pair of fur topped black boots, “Where have you been _this time_?”.

Dick laughed, a cheeky smile lit up his handsome face, “Well, how about I show you first and then I’ll tell you what I did?”, he rustled the jacket open fishing out the pristine postcard.

Y/N nodded excitedly and headed towards him, pulling the postcard from his fingers gently. She turned it over and felt herself melt. Dick has scrawled on a message of his own this time.

_‘I wish you were with me Angel’._

“You’re so sweet Dick”, she smiled before flipping it in her hand to see a dark night sky with streaks of blue and green. Almost like neon ribbons weaving through the air. Her face contorted trying to figure out what it was. She had never seen such a phenomenon. It was mythical. Something she imagined the Goddess Iris may have created.

“What is this? I’ve never seen anything like this before...”.

“Those are the Northern Lights”.

“What?”, Y/N looked up into his golden sparkling irises. She felt like she was staring into her own northern lights right there.

“ _Aurora Borealis_ ”, Dick murmured, his accent was thick this time as he spoke their shared home language.

“How does that even happen? It looks like someone had painted the sky with a brush”, Y/N looked down at the photo again. It was so serene. She could just make out the surrounding areas covered with a thick, white snow.

“The lights appear because of disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by solar wind”, Dick slipped the postcard from her hands.

She scrunched her nose up and frowned in total confusion. Dick smirked and laughed, “I know, it’s a little confusing...it just means it’s a natural phenomenon, one of the world's greatest wonders”.

“Do the lights move?”.

He nodded, “Yeah, they do...it’s incredibly peaceful. You have to go out into the middle of nowhere to see them. And”, he tugged the lapels of his snow jacket, “as you can tell, it’s a little cold”.

“I guess but”, Y/N giggled and tugged his jacket playfully, “You look pretty snug in that”.

Dick swooped in quickly before she had a chance to move and wrapped the jacket around her, pulling her tightly into his chest.

“ **Dick!!** ”, she squealed but laughed happily resting her hands on his broad chest.

His voice lowered as he spoke, “I guess but I’d have rather been cuddling up with you in one of the glass top igloos out there”.

Y/N felt the heat travelling up her cheeks at his words and blushed red. Dick was chuckling at her reaction, a bright smile on his lips.

“I- err- I brought you something else too”, Dick murmured fiddling around behind her, digging something out of one of the jacket’s pockets, stepping back slightly to hand her the object.

“Oh Dick…”, she whispered, her eyes wide with awe as she held the little snow globe in her hands. Her heart flooded with emotion as she took the globe from him.

“You said- I know you’ve never seen one before and I wanted to- I wanted you to have one”, Dick was nervous. His stomach had dropped several times watching her shake the tiny globe in her hands, watching the snowflakes fall into place.

Y/N tracked each miniature snowflake as it settled around the wooden lodge in the middle of the globe. There was a white bear next to the globe, with a silly red scarf on. She giggled at the sight before looking up at Dick, “It’s so beautiful”.

Dick felt the overwhelming wave of emotion hit him as she stared directly into his eyes. Nothing in all his years had ever felt like this. So natural. So easy. Effortless. Every moment of the day he found himself thinking of her. _His Y/N_. He swallowed nervously and pulled her closer to him, his body heat radiated off him onto her.

“Dick? What’s wrong, is-”.

He cut her off by cupping both of her cheeks in his hands and pulling her face to his, greeting her with a love filled kiss. Dick felt her gasp softly before returning the kiss, her hands winding around his waist, holding him to her. It was a tender kiss. Intimate. But neither could deny the feelings burning behind the action. Pulling back slightly, he pressed his forehead to hers, keeping his eyes closed to soak in the moment.

“ _Y/N...I-I think I’m- I t-think_ ”, he stuttered and swallowed thickly, “ _I think I’m in lov-_ ”.

She cut him off by standing on her tiptoes kissing him again deeply, her hands finding their way into his dark hair. Her kiss said everything he needed to know.

This. Whatever this was with Dick. It felt right. Everything fit into place so easily, so naturally. Nothing had been defined as such, but it didn’t matter. Somethings didn’t need to be said, somethings didn’t need to be clarified. All they knew was that this was meant to be.

***


	3. Part 3

**TRICKS OF LOVE – PART 3**

_Hermes!Dick Grayson X Reader Series_

**Warnings – Language. Fluff. Angst.**

***

The checkered blanket underneath their skin was soft as they curled up together under the starry night sky. Y/N rested her head against Dick’s chest, the steady rise and fall of his breathing bringing her a sea of tranquillity.

Dick had one hand resting under his head and the other wrapped securely around her, keeping her pressed tightly into his side.

“Tell me a story about the stars”, Y/N murmured, pressing a soft kiss to his chest. The happy humming noise he made only caused her to smile wider.

Dick pointed up to a constellation with the brightest star in the night sky, “That is **Canis Major** , it’s associated with _Laelaps_ , the fastest dog in the world, one destined to catch anything it pursued...Zeus gave Laelaps to Europa as a present many moons ago... _so I’ve heard_ ”.

Y/N listened intently and stroked her hand along his chest, drawing random shapes. She loved listening to him talk. Dick was never short of stories. He was so full of life.

“I’ve heard people say that Canis Major is the ‘the dog with the blazing face’ because”, Dick dragged a finger down her waist, stroking the soft cotton of her dress, “the dog appears to hold Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, in its jaws”.

He continued to ramble on about Sirius, Y/N lifted her head up and watched him. She couldn’t say she understood half of the things he was telling her but what she did know was that she loved the man laid underneath her more than anything.

“Sirius is gradually moving closer to the Solar System, so it will-”, Dick was cut off by her lips meeting his in a gentle kiss. He closed his eyes and pulled her fully onto his chest, his arms securing themselves around her waist.

As he broke away, he smiled at her with a daze expression, “Not that I’m complaining but, what was that for?”.

“Just being you”.

He laughed, “Most people wouldn’t kiss me for being me”.

“I should hope not too”, she smirked and jabbed his chest playfully.

“Don’t worry my love”, Dick kissed each cheek lightly, “The only person I want to kiss is you”.

Y/N giggled and looked down at him, brushing the collar of his shirt, “You always have so many stories to tell - you’ve seen so many wonderful things”.

“I’ve been around a long time Angel...I’m the God of Travellers...it’s in my interest to explore”, he grinned.

“I just”, she sighed sadly and felt his grip on her waist tighten, “I just wish I had stories to tell like you”.

Dick’s hand splayed out across her lower back, the heat from his skin warming her entire body, “Just because you don’t have stories to tell, doesn’t mean-”.

“I know, I know, I just wish I had exciting adventurous tales like you”.

“ _Y/N_ ”, he started softly, “with what happened to you, it’s-it’s understandable…”.

She stayed silent, fiddling with the button on the top of his shirt.

With his free hand, Dick tilted her head towards his and kissed her delicately, “You know, I meant what I said before my love, I’ll show you the entire world - anything and everything”.

“I don’t doubt it”, she murmured.

Dick gave her a dazzling smile. She returned it but he noticed it wasn’t as bright as usual. Her eyes didn’t glitter like they normally did. He knew, _deep down_ something was wrong. Something was going on behind them that maybe she hadn’t yet processed or fully understood. It was that feeling that made Dick anxious.

The eyes really were the window to the soul. He could see her. Feel her. And he knew that maybe the postcards wouldn’t be enough anymore. Dick had to do something else. Something bigger. Something brighter.

***

With his hands behind his back, Dick hummed softly to himself looking around the grandeur of the throne room within Jason’s palace. He’d never really taken the time to appreciate it for all its splendour. The black marble columns stretched up to the ceiling covered with gothic architecture. Dark green ivy spiralled around them, indicating Persephone was in Jason’s presence within the realm. He smiled. Persephone had really had such a profound impact upon Jason. He wondered if anyone thought the same of him with Y/N.

The heavy throne room doors creaked open and Dick turned to see Jason. Persephone had her arm wrapped in his, tucked into his side. She was positively glowing.

“You look absolutely _beautiful_ Petal, Jason’s treating you well I hope?”, Dick winked and gave her a kiss on the cheek in greeting.

“You don’t need to butter her up Grayson, she isn’t a slice of bread, what do you want?”, Jason glowered, his face dark and brooding.

“I need your help”.

Jason snorted, “Again? What’s wrong now?”.

Dick clicked his tongue nervously, looking between his brother and Persephone, “I need you to create a realm...similar to Elysium...something a soul of the Underworld can visit... _within the next few days ideally..._ ”.

“You’re joking right?”, Jason’s eyebrows lifted high on his face.

Dick stared at him silently before sighing quietly, “ _Please_ ”.

Persephone squeezed Jason’s forearm gently before speaking lowly, “My King…”.

Jason softened instantly at his wife’s touch, pressing his lips to her forehead before turning back to Dick, “So let me get this straight…You want me to make an entire pocket realm for what? Just because you’ve asked me?”.

Fidgeting on the spot, Dick dug a hand into the front of his jeans, “You make it sound like you can’t do it”. Maybe goading Jason into it would be better. He never liked anyone questioning his power. His skill.

“Oh I can brother, but, are _**you**_ worth the effort?”, Jason sniped back irritated.

Swallowing another insult, Dick looked between Jason and Persephone before admitting quietly, “It's not for me… _it’s for Y/N_ ”.

“Somehow you are even more of a pain in the ass when you’re in love”, Jason rolled his eyes but smirked when Persephone dug her nails into his arm, “Sorry my Queen”.

“Oh come on, it’s just one little favour...I won't ask you for anything else ever again”, mentally Dick chuckled at himself. He knew he sounded like a five year old child in the grocery store, nagging for one more toy. But this - this realm, it would be worth everything just to see the look on Y/N’s face.

Jason scoffed loudly, “Well we both know that’s a lie”.

Dick lifted both his arms into the air with a dramatic sigh, “I’d do it for you! **Come on!** How would you have gotten your gifts to Persephone without me huh?”.

Letting out a loud huff, Jason grimaced, “I could have asked literally **any** of the other Underworld deities to do it for me...it isn’t that hard to deliver packages and **NOT** read letters”.

“Like they’d have done as good a job as I did”, Dick commented petulantly, scuffing the floor with his trainers.

Jason’s laugh echoed around the room. Persephone appeared to be biting back a giggle too when Dick glared at her.

Dick sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, the golden locket catching the nearby candle light, “Look we’re deviating off topic here…I really need you to do this for me. _Just this once_ ”.

Persephone leaned up and pressed a chaste kiss to the corner of Jason’s lips, a small smile tugging at her lips, “My love, he’s not going to stop pestering you”.

“Thanks Petal, I knew you’d have my back”.

Jason groaned deeply looking at Persephone, “Can’t you make him go away?”.

Persephone chuckled and shook her head, “No force on Earth can remove his stubborn ass”.

“Please brother…”, Dick pleaded in a more subdued tone, “I’m begging you, just this one thing”.

“You really love her, don’t you?”.

Dick’s ears turned pink, “More than anything”.

Persephone looked to Jason who wore a softer expression, “My love…”.

Jason relented and nodded his head, “Fine-fine...just this once...and you have to help”.

Dick flung his arms around Jason and hugged him tightly, “Thank you”, he whispered, “You have no idea how much this will mean to her”.

Stunned momentarily, Jason patted his brothers back before returning the hug briefly. Persephone smiled happily watching them both. It was nice to see them getting along instead of squabbling. However, she made a mental note to herself, she needed to visit Y/N. The woman who’d captured Dick Grayson’s love. *** The knock at her door took Y/N by surprise. It can’t have been Dick, he never knocked. Not that it bothered her but she just wasn’t used to such a gesture. She put down her tapestry and made her way across to the front door, opening it slowly. A loud gasp left her lips before she could control it. **Queen** **Persephone** stood on her doorstep, holding a large white box in her hands, a red ribbon tied around it.

“ _My Queen!_ ”, Y/N curtsied to her immediately.

She heard Persephone giggle softly, “Oh sweetie, please, you don’t have to do that”.

Y/N blushed a little and opened the door wider for her, “What do I owe such an honoured visit my Que-”, she saw Persephone raise her eyebrow playfully, “ _Persephone_ ”.

“Well, I _just had_ to come and visit the woman who has stolen Dick’s heart”.

“Oh!”, she felt her cheeks turn pinker at the comment, “I- well- what’s in the box?”, curiosity getting the better of Y/N.

Persephone grinned cheekily and wiggled the box between them, “If I’ve come to gossip with you, I had to bring some treats to eat too”.

The smile on Y/N’s face grew, “Come in, I’ll make us a **BIG** cup of tea...make yourself at home”.

“Oh I see why Dick loves you!”, Persephone winked following Y/N into her home.

***

Settling down on an arm chair each, Persephone curled her legs underneath her, snuggling into a fluffy blanket thrown over the back of the chair, “So I’m dying to know sweetie...what possessed you to tolerate Dick?!”.

Y/N snorted her tea through her nose as she laughed, “He’s not so bad, he’s actually very sweet, incredibly romantic”.

Persephone smirked and looked across at her over the rim of her porcelain cup, “You know he can’t hear you don’t you?”.

Giggling softly Y/N leaned across between them both and grabbed a sugary donut from the box. A delicacy she’d never had before. As she took a bit she moaned softly, licking the sugar from her lips.

“These are _**SO**_ good”.

“Blink once if you’re being held against your will”, Persephone grinned reaching for her own treat. She’d been craving sugar so much lately. Especially these donuts from the market downtown.

Y/N giggled more and smiled happily, “He’s really not that bad, honestly...he’s well, he’s pretty much perfect”.

Persephone sipped her tea, “Hmmm, if you say so”, she glanced around the room before whispering loudly in a jokey manner, “Blink twice if you’ve thought about gagging him at least once”.

Grinning Y/N laughed loudly, “ _ **Well**_ ”, she drank another mouthful of her tea, “Ok, maybe once…ok-ok, more than once”.

Persephone sighed in relief, resting her head back dramatically, “Oh, thank the gods, you **are** normal!”, she winked at Y/N, “Trust me, we’ve all wanted to gag Dick at some point, it’s completely natural”.

Y/N chuckled before looking over at her wall littered with postcards and photos, a wistful smile gracing her lips, “He’s been very good to me”.

Persephone got up from her seat, placed her cup down on the table and walked over to the photos, “Are these all from him?”.

Letting her hands run over the photos, Y/N smiled longingly, “ _Yes_ ”, her hand rested over the photo of the Northern Lights, that one been particularly special to her, their first kiss, “he brings me things from all over the world”. Her eyes cast downwards to the delicate snow globe.

“The world really is a beautiful place”, Persephone looked across at Y/N knowingly, “Do you miss it?”.

Y/N bit her lip and looked down at the wooden flooring, her heart swimming with guilt. She missed it every day. Every postcard Dick brought back only made her heart ache more. A sweet, painful torture.

Persephone rested her hand softly on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze, “It’s ok to miss it sweetie, it doesn’t make your love any less for him”.

“Do you miss it, when you are down here?”.

Persephone took a deep breath and nodded, “I do”, her eyes met Y/N’s and she smiled gently, “But my situation is quite different from yours”.

Nodding, Y/N scanned across each photo on her wall, “I- I never saw anything beyond Athens when I was alive...I was very young when I made my path down here...to the Underworld”.

Staying silent, Persephone let her talk. She slipped her arm around the top of her shoulders, pulling her towards her body in a comforting manner.

“The man I was due to marry, he-he murdered me. He took everything from me. My dreams. _Everything_. He knew I wanted to travel. He knew I wanted to see the world. I even had the resources to do it, that was a rare thing in those days, you know? But he took it- he took that from me and now I have seen nothing but the night sky of the Underworld”.

Persephone felt her heart twinge at Y/N’s words. A wash of knowing hit her.

“Look, sweetheart”, Persephone glanced out of the kitchen window, “There is a River down here…a river that allows-”.

“Allows you to be reborn”, Y/N sighed sadly, “The River Lethe…I have heard of it”.

Persephone swallowed thickly before speaking, “ _Then you know the price you would have to pay to do such a thing_ ”.

Y/N closed her eyes stopping the tears from falling down her cheeks, “ _I do_ ”.

Persephone spun Y/N around and gripped her hands in her own, squeezing reassuringly, “Whatever decision you make sweetie, make it for **you** …I love Dick, he’s my best friend but this decision, it needs to be made by you only”.

“It’s just so hard. I-I love him so much and I’m scared”.

Pulling her into a tight hug, Persephone whispered into her ear, “Sometimes you have to leave your faith in the hands of destiny. If it’s meant to be, you will find each other again. I swear it”.

“Thank you”.

Holding Y/N tighter in her arms, Persephone felt an overwhelming wave of protective emotion flood through her, “I’m here whenever you need me”.

***

Y/N smiled as she watched Dick rush through her door and envelope her into a giant hug. She giggled gently as he pressed delicate kisses over her cheeks before pulling back, letting his eyes drink her in.

“I’ve missed you Angel”, Dick squeezed her hands in his. His face was so bright and full of love.

She swallowed nervously and squeezed his hands in return, “You’ve only been gone a few days”, Y/N chuckled.

“That’s too long in my opinion”, Dick pulled her back to him and kissed her slowly stroking her cheek before parting from her.

Y/N flushed at the kiss. He always managed to take her breath away.

“ _Dick-_ ”, she started quietly.

“I’ve got a surprise for you”, he cut over her, his voice bubbling with excitement.

“ _ **Dick-**_ ”.

“You’re going to be so excited Angel - I can’t wait to show you, we can go tomorrow, I’ve got a plan-”.

“ **Dick!** ”, her voice was sterner this time, drawing Dick’s attention as his eyebrows furrowed.

“What’s wrong?”.

She took a deep breath and tucked a dark curl behind his ear, “I need to talk to you about something _really important_ ”.

Dick felt his stomach twist. He tried to keep a straight face and not show how worried he was. Those words never signified anything good. Dread was licking away at his thoughts.

“Of course Angel...you can talk to me about anything”.

Y/N let the pads of her fingers trace along his jaw, cementing the sharp profile to memory, “There isn’t an easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it straight...I want to visit the River Lethe... _I want to be reborn Dick_ ”.

The realisation sunk into him and a spark of anger flashed through his golden eyes, “Tell me this is some kind of sick joke?”.

“What? Why would I joke about something this serious?”.

Dick took a step back away from her, his emotions flooding through him. Trying to process each one. _Panic. Anger. Hurt. Grief. Betrayal. Why did she want to leave him?_

“I can’t believe this”, he scoffed, the hurt shining through his once vibrant eyes, “You seriously want to throw - **this** \- away?”. Dick’s hand pointed between them both viciously, slicing the air with his hand.

“ _Dick..._ ”, Y/N’s voice was softer, quivering at the end. Tears brimming in the corners of her eyes, “ _Please..._ ”.

His eyes met hers and she saw the betrayal hidden behind them, “You were stabbed in the back and now you’re doing the same to me?! You’d put me through the same heartbreak?”.

“Dick please”.

Dick’s voice snapped, emotion pouring through his words, “No! You’re just going to hurt me, like he broke you - why would you do that to me? I thought- I thought you-”.

Y/N sniffled and wiped at her eyes, “It’s not like that and you know it!”.

Watching her wipe the tears away with the sleeves of her jumper, Dick rushed across to her. He hated seeing her cry, “Y/N”, he held her closer to him, “I-I can’t...I can’t lose you...please Angel...”.

Y/N pressed herself into his chest, her face pressed into the cotton of his shirt. His scent comforted her immediately.

“ _ **Please**_ _-Please_ don’t...don’t leave me”, he begged desperately, his hands clinging to her waist. Terrified if he let go, she would disappear.

“I’m not leaving you, how could I ever forget you?”, her voice was muffled into his chest, her hands fisting the material.

Dick stroked his hands up and down her back, his voice was soft as he spoke, “But you know the price you have to pay to be reborn, to drink the water from the River Lethe…you know what that will do Y/N... **you’ll forget everything** \- you’ll forget... _me_ ”.

Y/N tilted her head back to look up at him, “I know Dick, but you underestimate my love for you”.

“ _ **Please**_ ”.

She pressed her forehead to Dick’s, “My love; death, life, rebirth? No force will ever be able to tear my love for you away from me. You will find me or I will find you...”

Dick closed his eyes and took in the scent of her perfume, “I’ve never loved anything like I love you”.

“You know how much I love you too”.

He made a quiet, strangled noise from the back of his throat, “Then **why**... _why_ do you want to leave me? I - I thought you were happy! That we were happy together?”.

Y/N stroked her hand over his soft cheek, “I am happy! You know how I feel about you. But I can’t keep living through you. I want to _see_ it for myself, _taste_ it for myself. By the Gods Dick, I want to experience it all with you more than anything in this universe but I can’t - I’m stuck down here”.

Dick pulled back slowly and closed his eyes, willing the tears not to fall, “I- Y/N…”.

Y/N tried to pull him back to her but he slipped from her grasp, “I’m sorry Dick, it’s what I want...I just- I’ve lived in the shadows for so long, I want to live again, please tell me you understand...”.

He turned away and ran a hand through his dark hair and over his face, “I just need a bit of space Y/N…”.

“Dick...please don’t go”, her voice cracked. She wanted him to look at her. She wanted him to hold her more than anything. Tell her it’d be ok. Tell her he understood and that they’d find one another again. That their love was more powerful than any force in the universe.

“I’ll be back soon”, Dick’s voice was empty, staring straight ahead at her front door.

Y/N watched him head towards the entrance, his back hunched over. She waited for him to turn around and give her one last look. A smile. _Anything_. But he didn’t. Dick pushed open the wooden door and disappeared into a cloud of golden smoke without a single word.

***


	4. Chapter 4

**TRICKS OF LOVE – CHAPTER 4**

_Hermes!Dick Grayson X Reader Series_

**Warnings – Language. Fluff. NSFW Smut (Soft). Angst.**

***

Looking out over the lush green fields of Elysium, the golden sun was setting in the distance causing the dusk sky to light up a pinky orange. Dick sat crossed legged with a magnificent white Elk at his side. It was an animal he’d ‘acquired’ some time ago from a spoilt, rich mortal king. A brief smile crossed his lips as he thought of telling Y/N before he frowned. Y/N. A woman he loved so deeply he could barely begin to describe it. A woman who he knew deep down returned those feelings but...wanted to leave him. A woman who wished to drink from the River Lethe and forget... _everything_.

“I thought I’d find you down here”, Persephone spoke softly.

Dick sighed and continued to stroke the white elk, “I like it down here...it’s peaceful”.

“You mean you like checking up on the animals you’ve _‘sneaked’_ down here?”, Persephone’s voice was soft as she spoke, her eyes running over his hunched back.

“There’s that too”.

“Oh, I almost forgot, you _love_ annoying Jason down here too”, she joked sitting down on the plush grass with him.

He hummed nonchalantly before running his fingers over the elk’s nose.

Persephone let out a puff of air. She’d heard of their argument. After she’d wiped away Y/N’s tears, Persephone cuddled her through the night whispering that it’d be ok. Lulling her into an uneasy sleep. She’d explained that Dick’s temper sometimes got the better of him. That he’d come round. But it had been almost a week now with nothing.

No communication. No visits. _Nothing_. This couldn’t go on any longer. Maybe he needed some tough love. A harsh truth.

“What are you doing Dick?”, Persephone’s sharper tone caused Dick to tilt his head towards her.

He scowled, his usually handsome face twisted, “Pers-”.

“Just stop this Dick...this is ridiculous”.

His eyes flashed white before he snapped angrily, “Do not speak of matters which you know nothing about”.

Persephone felt her own temper flare at his attitude, “Don't you see this is suffocating her? She's not some caged bird you can keep to yourself Dick”.

“I-”, he started but was cut off by her.

SHe jabbed her finger towards his face, “ _No_ , **No**. You're going to listen to me. And listen good. Dick, this girl has every right to want to leave, you should not stand in her way”.

Looking down at the floor, Dick closed his eyes briefly, trapping the tears.

“You've given her a taste of something she cannot have. Would you be so cruel to keep her from that?”.

Dick opened his eyes, Persephone hadn’t noticed before, but they were red, “I didn’t- I did that because I saw how excited she was the first time...I wanted to see her smile, I wanted to keep giving her that”.

Inching closer Persephone lowered her voice, “You want to give her the world, don't you? Why not give it to her then?”.

“Because then I’ll lose mine”.

Persephone cupped his face, “Do you really think fate is so cruel that it will keep you two apart for long?”.

Sighing, he grunted out, “It was cruel enough to do this to us”.

“Dick, she loves you and she will find you again”.

He looked out across the sunset and swallowed thickly, “I - I’ve never felt this emotion before”.

She moved one of her hands down into his and squeezed tightly, “Heartbreak is painful, I understand, but you have to have faith Dick...you have to believe you will both find one another – just trust the universe”.

Dick clutched her hand in return, the pain evident on his face, “I- I’m scared, I don’t- I don’t know what to say or do...the way I left, she’ll be so angry with me-”.

“If you wait any longer - she’ll be gone, and you’ll regret this everyday... Go to her”.

“Pers-”.

“Go. To. Her. Now”, Persephone smiled as he let go of her hand suddenly, before disappearing.

***

Dick stood outside of the wooden door. His hand pressed flat against the solid material. He daren’t knock. What if he was too late? What if she’d gone and the last words, he’d ever said to her was _‘I’ll be back soon’_ , only for him to mull alone for a week. He cringed internally at his behaviour. She didn’t deserve that. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes, willing himself to knock.

“Exactly how long have you been standing there?”.

The voice startled him and he spun around, his eyes settling on her beautiful form. He swallowed thickly, drinking her in before speaking.

“That’s the first thing you have to say to me after I left you the way I did?”.

Y/N shrugged softly and made her way towards him, rounding him carefully, opening her front door, “I understand that you were upset, and you had to think, sometimes people need time”.

Dick followed her inside, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, “I feel like you’re been way calmer about this than you should be”.

Dropping the bag on the kitchen side she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth before replying, “Well, I’ve had just over a week alone to think about it all myself”.

He felt his heart break at how kind she was. How understanding she was. Dick couldn’t believe how lucky he was, and knowing he was going to lose her only made his stomach churn.

“ _I-I’m so sorry Angel..._ ”, he murmured, edging closer to her, “I’ve missed you so much”.

Subconsciously she felt herself inching closer to him, her soul craving the closeness.

“Please forgive me”.

“Oh Dick…”, Y/N wrapped her arms around him pulling him into a tight hug, “There is nothing to forgive”.

Dick crushed her into his chest the second her arms linked around him, “You’re too kind, you should be angry with me”.

Y/N kissed his cheek, “Love is about understanding…appreciating…plus, you’re too adorable, it’s a curse really, it’s just so hard to stay mad at you”.

He chuckled at that and kissed her nose, “Well, it’s a curse I’m grateful for if it keeps me in your good books”.

Dick felt Y/N tug some of the strands of his hair at the back of his neck playfully and winced, “I’m sorry”.

A comfortable silence fell over them both before he leaned down, pressing his forehead to hers, “I…I can’t pretend I’m excited Y/N…I can’t. I love you more than anything in this world so…I won’t stop you”.

Instead of answering him with words, Y/N tilted her face to his and kissed him deeply, digging her fingers into his hair to keep him close to her. He sighed happily into her mouth, before pulling away.

“Before…before you go…I need to show you something”.

“Ok”.

“I need you to close your eyes and hold onto me”, Dick coiled his arms around her waist, kissing her cheek quickly.

“Ok”, she said faultlessly. She trusted him more than anything.

Closing her eyes, she slipped her hands around his neck, “Show me”.

***

“Open your eyes”, Dick whispered quietly into her ear, keeping his arms wrapped around her tightly.

Shivering, she suddenly felt a bitter air nipping at her skin. Something cold and icy landed on her cheek and she gasped opening her eyes suddenly.

The sight surrounding her took her breath away. She was stood in the middle of a snowy tundra. Snowflakes were falling around them, landing in both of their hairs.

“Dick…Oh my-Dick is this-?”.

“It’s all for you Angel”, he squeezed her into his chest as the snow fell around them.

She felt the tears brimming.

“I-I -errr, I pulled a few strings and…I asked Jason to create this for you…well for us to enjoy. I-I wanted to show you more than just a picture”.

As she looked up into his eyes, she noticed the pink blush dusting his cheeks. Y/N went to say something to Dick but gasped loudly again noticing the green lights, dancing across the night sky behind him.

“Are those…Dick…Did you create the Northern Lights…for-for me?”.

He nodded, spinning her around in his arms so he was behind her. Resting his chin on her shoulder he murmured, “I’d do anything for you”.

“Dick-my love, this is- this is beyond my wildest dreams”.

“I-I know I can’t take you to the real thing”, his voice was quite with unspoken sadness, “I wish I could Angel, I really do…but, this is the best I can do, whist…whilst you’re still down here”.

Y/N placed her hands over his, “This is perfect…thank you. By the Gods…I wish I could show you how much this means to me”.

Dick kissed her cheek lovingly, as he cuddled her from behind, “The smile on your face is payment enough…I only ever want to see you happy”. 

After a few silent moments of watching the lights ribbon across the sky, Dick dropped down into the snow and pulled Y/N with him, settling her onto his lap. The snow crumpled under them and she giggled, fisting her hands into the snow. It was then, Dick realised, she’d never experienced snow. Something as simple and beautiful as this. Watching her and the lights, he realised, no matter the pain he’d feel when she left him. It would be worth it. The sun always shone after a storm. He just had to weather it. He had to have faith. Faith that everything would work out and they’d find each other again.

***

Settling onto the porchway on the front of her house after making their way back from the snowy realm, Dick pulled her onto the wooden love seat in front of her house. Her cheeks were red from the bitter winds and he cursed himself silently for not letting her bring a coat.

“Don’t worry”, she smiled and settled into his arms on the seat, “You can warm me up, it wasn’t that cold, you barely let me out of your arms”.

He smirked, she could read him like a book.

“Well just look at you Angel, can you blame me for never wanting to let you go?”.

He saw her cheeks get redder from the compliment and he grinned.

“I have something for you”, he said suddenly, changing the subject and digging something from his inner pocket.

“Dick – you shouldn’t have”.

He winked, “I think you’ll like this…”, he opened his palm to reveal a simple golden locket, engraved with his insignia. A snake coiled around a staff.

“Dick…”.

“It’s my locket”, he inched closer to her, pressing his cheek to hers before clasping the locket in place around her neck, “It keeps travellers safe”.

Her fingers touched the cool metal. The locket sat perfectly over her chest where her heart would be. She knew the meaning behind this. This was his blessing. It was his parting gift to her as she entered her next life.

“You know…been the God of Travel…Travellers…this, this will keep you safe from any harm”, his voice was husky as he kissed the skin behind her ear, “If I can’t be with you in person, protecting you, I want you to have something that will”.

She shivered as his lips touched her, the kiss sending ripples of desire through her.

“You’ll always have a part of me with you…wherever you may end up”.

“Dick…It means so much to me that you accept my decision”.

His hands rubbed over her hips, the rough fabric of her jeans coarse against the pads of his thumbs, “I’ll miss you…I can’t begin to explain how much…or how much it’ll hurt, but, I know…I know you need to do this for you”.

“Thank you”.

Kissing his way to her shoulder, Dick noticed her nipples had hardened, to show through the light material of her t-shirt. He gulped a little, then moved to place his hand over a breast. Y/N shivered once again, but pressed against his hand readily accepting his burning touch. Through the thin cloth, he touched her nipple, which caused her to arch her back. As she opened her eyes to look into his, he kissed her lips tenderly, pouring every ounce of emotion into the action.  
  
Y/N had never felt anything like the feelings that now coursed through her body. She felt warm all over, her face was flushed, her core was tingling with desire for this man. Still looking into Dick’s eyes, she pushed away a little and removed his hand from her breast. A quick look of disappointment flashed through his eyes. The look disappeared, though, as she began to unbutton his shirt.

Dick now had one arm on the back of the loveseat and the other in his lap as she worked her way down his buttons. He was hard in his jeans, enjoying her soft touches as she undid each of his buttons slowly. With the last button undone, she ran her hands over the smooth skin of his chest and brushed over his nipples. Dick groaned lowly as he took off his shirt and tossed it to the floor carelessly, keenly desperately for more of her touch.

Looking into each other’s eyes, she continued to run her hands over him, enjoying his smooth skin, his well-muscled arms and his flat, taut stomach. Now it was Dick’s turn to give an involuntary shiver.

With a burning passion, he looked at her, then moved to touch her T-shirt, “Do you mind?”, he whispered quietly, his hands toying with the fabric as he closed the distance.

Y/N stopped touching him, then looked into his eyes, “Please”, she whispered, barely audibly.

As Dick gripped the material more firmly, he eased it up her body as she raised her arms over her head. The feel of the material pulling across her nipples caused her to shiver again and, as he lifted her top over her arms, she felt her skin both cooled and hot at the same time.

As she lowered her arms, Dick could only feast his eyes on her firm breasts and pebbled nipples. He swallowed thickly and inched closer, his breathing laboured. Just as he had pictured in his mind, Y/N was absolutely perfect.

Seeing Dick eyeing her so hungrily, and feeling a little embarrassed by her nudity, Y/N moved to cover herself with her arms. He took her hands, though, and stopped her, kissing each palm gently.

“Please don’t. You are absolutely beautiful Angel…I’m just…I’m admiring you”.

Noticing the goosebumps on her breasts, Dick whispered, “Don’t move, just let me fix the fire”.

He got up to add more wood to the log burner besides them on the porch way. As he settled back on the loveseat, he took Y/N in his arms and pulled her tightly against him. With her breasts pressing against his chest and the warm air of the fireplace now flowing over them, he felt like he was in heaven.

They sat for some time, just embracing as they ran their hands over each other's bodies. Appreciating one another. Discovering what made the other shiver. Moan. Sigh in bliss. Her fingers threaded through his hair as he planted delicate kisses on her bare shoulders.

“I love you”, he murmured against her shoulder, before pressing a kiss to her skin.

She hummed happily and weaved her fingers through his dark locks, “I love you too”.

Dick now felt, though, that it was time to take charge. He slid out of her arms and off the loveseat to the floor. Y/N turned to face him and, as he kneeled in front of her, he again marvelled at the beauty of her breasts. He also noticed that her breathing had quickened, which made her breasts rise and fall more quickly. Incredibly turned on, he placed his hands on her knees and gently forced her legs apart. She took in a sharp gasp of air before relaxing and allowed him to spread them.

The quick flash of uncertainty disappeared as she looked at Dick’s bare chest, then down to the bulge in the front of his jeans. She now knew, absolutely, that she was ready for her first time. She was his entirely. She wanted nobody else. And, by the looks he was giving her, the sounds he was making, he only ever wanted her too. Dick crawled forward slightly on his knees, between her legs, as she sat on the edge of the seat and put her arms around him, pressing her breasts to his face.

On his knees between her legs, Dick breathed in Y/N’s scent and placed his hands on her thighs. Without thinking, she wrapped her legs around his as he stroked her thighs. Y/N’s pussy was soaking with desire, she enjoyed the feeling and wondered at her need to have Dick inside her. How it would feel sharing herself with him that way.

Dick pulled away slightly and, with Y/N’s breasts in front of him, gently licked her nipples, alternating between them as she placed her hands on his shoulders. As he began sucking her nipples, waves of desire shot through Y/N’s body and she threw her head back in enjoyment as Dick touched her through her jeans.

“Oh! Dick!”, she breathed as he both sucked a nipple and ran his fingers over her clothed pussy.

“Lie back”, he whispered, “Relax…let me take care of you”.

As she lay back on the loveseat, resting her head on its back, Dick leaned forward to again take a nipple in his mouth. As he did so, he pressed his erection against her pussy and gently ground against her. Y/N’s panties were now soaked, and she held his face in her hands, indulging in his tongue’s attention. 

Dick could feel pre-cum wetting his boxers as he knelt before her. His cock was uncomfortably trapped in his jeans, begging to be released. He could feel the heat from her core through her jeans and thoughts of sinking into her plagued his mind. Now flushed with desire, he whispered in her ear, “Y/N, Angel, I want you so bad. You’re so beautiful…let me show you how much I love you”.

Thrilled by the words, Y/N responded by pressing her crotch against him, “I want you too, Dick. I really want you. I need you. Please”.

Dick needed no further encouragement. Settling back on his haunches, he again moved his fingers over her pussy. He undid the button of her jeans, then pulled down the zipper. He moved away from her a little and pushed her legs almost closed.

“Lift your ass up”.

As she did, Dick pulled her jeans and pink panties down her long legs toward him, finally sliding them off over her feet. Looking at her now completely naked body, Dick could only murmur a quiet _‘wow’_ as he ran his eyes over her.

Y/N looked at him as he took in the curves of her body, worshipping her like a goddess, “Take off your jeans Dick. I want to see you too”.

He moved her legs apart once again and, in the dim light of the fireplace, looked at the folds of her glistening pussy. Up on his knees again, Y/N couldn’t take her eyes off him as he undid the button on his jeans, then unzipped the fly. She could see his bulge in the firelight and felt the urge to see his length exposed. As Dick slid his jeans and boxers down, his thick cock stood out before her. She took in the engorged head and his girthy shaft, which stood out proudly, throbbing with need. As the firelight played over him, Y/N thought she’d never seen anything so beautiful.

Still between her legs, Dick pulled her ass to the edge of the loveseat, then moved onto his hands before her. Eyeing the dimly lit soft folds before him, he ached to taste her. He edged closer to gently run the tip of his tongue over her, tasting her wetness. As he did, Y/N moaned with pleasure.

“You’re so beautiful Angel”, Dick licked over her again, moaning softly against her core.

“You taste so sweet”, He kissed her clit, sending a shock through Y/N’s body. Pushing his tongue between her wet lips, he let her flavour linger on his tongue. She squirmed and moaned as he continued to kiss and run his tongue over her. Dick moved his fingertips up her inner thighs and parted her folds pushing his tongue as deep inside her as he could.

Y/N moaned loudly and, with her feet firmly on the floor, pushed against Dick’s mouth, wanting more of his wonderful tongue. She placed her hands on his head, twining her fingers in his black hair and pulled him into her as she writhed with pleasure.

“Oh my God, that feels so good. Mmmmm”.

As he continued to pleasure her pussy, Y/N fell back on the loveseat, letting her lust flow over her. As she began moving rhythmically against his face, Dick realised she was approaching her orgasm. Wrapping his lips around her clit, he flicked his tongue across it harshly, humming in pleasure. Her body jolted with the vibrations as she cried out.

“Dick! Oh!! Dick!!”, she cried his name repeatedly as she hit her first orgasm with a blinding force. She panted heavily, sinking back into the wood.

He pulled away and rose onto his knees between her legs. Y/N opened her eyes, which had been closed tightly in bliss, and looked at him lovingly, “You ok there my love?”.

Dick nodded, pressing a kiss to her lips lightly, “I really want to be inside you baby. Are you ready for that?”.

Y/N looked at his thick, erect cock with a glistening with pre-cum on and knew she wanted him inside her. As she gazed at him, all she could imagine was him pushing into her, deep into her.

“Yes. Yes, I want you. I need you now”.

Dick moved on his knees toward her once again. He reached under her ass and pulled her toward him, so she rested on the edge of the loveseat. Y/N watched as Dick took his shaft in hand, then pushed the head against her lips. Feeling his warmth against her, she gulped as Dick spread her legs wider, to open for him.

As Y/N watched his cock poised at her pussy, Dick gently pushed into her. Knowing this was her first time, he didn’t want to ruin it, so edged into her slowly. As he continued to push inside her, Y/N moaned with pleasure as she felt him stretch her. He felt so hard, yet soft, so hot, so long, so thick. He felt so big, she was surprised he could fit into her as easily as he was. Dick stopped, deep inside her, and couldn’t take her eyes away from the sight of him deep inside her. She had never thought it could feel this good.

“You okay?”, Dick whispered into her ear. He was surprised he had gone full length. Y/N was tight, but so wet, that he felt he had slipped in easily.

“Yes, please Dick. I need you”.

As she now looked into his eyes, Dick pulled slowly out, then pushed back inside her. She closed her eyes when he pushed in again, and moaned lightly. Dick then began a slow, steady rhythm, pushing full length into her, then slowly out. As he moved his eyes over her body, her face, he couldn’t believe he was finally making love to her, couldn’t believe how exquisite she felt as he had entered her. Y/N’s eyes were now closed and Dick kept up a steady rhythm, in and out, in and out. Gently, enjoying the feeling of being inside her.

Y/N again wrapped her legs around Dick and opened her eyes once again to watch. As he gently fucked into her, she could feel the beginnings of an orgasm building and moaned more loudly. Dick could feel her warm pussy as she clenched him and he knew she was nearing an orgasm.

“Can I go faster, Angel?”.

“Mmmhmm”, was all Y/N could manage, so enraptured by the mounting pleasure.

As Dick sped up, she closed her eyes, focusing on the feeling of him driving into her deeper with every stroke. He was going full pace now, groaning her name under his breath.

“You feel so good...so good”.

After several more moments, Y/N was moaning loudly, breathing more rapidly and Dick knew she was on the brink of falling apart around him. The way she was wrapped so tightly around him, only pushed him closer to his own end. Moving even more quickly, to match Y/N’s panting, Dick could feel his orgasm building. As she moaned louder still and closed her eyes in anticipation, Dick drove deeply, quickly into her body. After a few more long strokes, Y/N tightly clenched her pussy as waves of pleasure spread over and through her.

As Y/N came and slowly cried out, Dick came as well, pumping hot, thick cum into her. As Y/N continued moaning, Dick slowed his pace, enjoying a warm blush all over his body. Y/N kept her eyes closed, enjoying the feel of Dick still slowly moving inside, not wanting him to stop. As her orgasm washed over her, she was now speechless, enjoying all kinds of new and wonderful sensations. With Dick still inside her, she squeezed him with her pussy and began to feel herself overcome with pleasure and emotion.

Looking down at her, Dick was surprised to see tears rolling down her cheeks. He stopped suddenly, “What’s wrong Y/N? Shit…did I hurt you?”.

At that, she giggled a little, then pushed herself up so she could put her arms around him.

“No, it’s nothing. I’m fine”, she whispered into his ear, “That was so beautiful”.

She hugged him close, crushing her breasts against him, and wrapped her legs tightly around him, not wanting him to pull out. Her head on his shoulder, she let the tears flow, wanting only to hold him close and keep him inside her body. Her back was cool, while the rest of her felt like it was burning. From desire or what, she didn’t know and didn’t care. She had never felt anything like that before in her life.

Dick was blown away by the experience and the fact that Y/N, despite the tears, was still holding him close. He pressed kisses over her cheeks and down to her collar bone before lifting her up into his arms easily.

“Let’s curl up under the duvet yeah?”, he wanted to spend the next few hours just holding this incredible woman. He didn’t know how much longer he’d have her for. He wanted to make sure every second counted.

***

Stroking her hands through his dark hair, Y/N smiled as Dick edged closer to her in her bed, his hands gripping onto her hips, pulling her into his body. They’d shared another few special moments in each other’s arms before finally succumbing to sleep. He looked so peaceful, the duvet only covering the lower half of his body. She giggled softly and traced her fingers down his face and along his chest, following each dip and curve of muscle. He was truly a magnificent sight. The V shape of his abs, dusted with a trail of dark hair, dipping lower below the sheets. She’d never felt luckier. The man she had shared herself with, had shown her nothing but pure and unadulterated love. And here he was, wrapped up in the sheets with her.

Slipping out from the duvet and his grip slowly so as not to disturb him, she dressed herself quickly before placing one of the pillows sideways next to Dick. He latched onto it quickly mumbling in his sleep. She smiled again, kissing his forehead.

“ _I love you so much Dick_ ”, Y/N whispered before placing a folded scarf and a letter on the bed besides him.

“ _We’ll meet again_ ”.

Taking one last look at him, imprinting his image into her mind, she turned quickly, heading down her stairs and out of the front door, ready to begin her new life.

***

Heading down the dimly lit forest path, she took a deep, steadying breath. _This was it._ The start of her new life. But she would be starting it without the love of her life. A sadness swept through her as her mind sprung the image of Dick laying delicate kisses over every inch of her body through the night. Worshipping her the way he told her she should be.

Shaking her head, Y/N touched the locket around her neck and instantly felt safe. Calm. This pain would only be temporary. They would find each other and nothing – _nothing in the cosmos_ – would stop them.

The pathway cleared as it led towards the River Lethe and Jason, King of the Underworld stood with his back to her, watching the waters silently. She swallowed nervously and coughed quietly. He spun around and gave her a lopsided smile.

“I am ready”.

Jason rolled up his shirt sleeves and sat at the edge of the riverbed, he could hear the crinkling of the grass as she padded across to him, “Are you sure about this Y/N? You will not know Dick in your next life”.

Y/N knelt beside him at the foot of the river and smiled shyly, “Oh I will, he’s kind of hard to unknow, y’know?”.

She heard Jason scoff and grunt, “Trust me, I’ve been trying for several thousand years”.

Y/N laughed before looking towards the King, “We made a promise. We’ll find each other again”, she dipped her fingers into the yellow tinted waters, “You can’t stop true love”.

Jason smiled knowingly before handing her the golden chalice, “Good luck”.

Touching the golden locket hanging around her neck, Y/N returned his smile, “I have all the luck I need, right here”.

Taking the chalice from Jason’s hands, she plunged it into the waters before bringing it back up to her lips taking a deep gulp. She closed her eyes and pictured Dick. _Another sip_. The way he looked as she left him in her bed. He looked so peaceful. _Another sip_. The way his mouth was parted slightly as he snored softly. How his dark curls hung down into his eyes. _Another sip_. Those perfect, golden eyes. Hidden whilst he was asleep. _Another sip_. Y/N tried to trace every feature in her mind but felt the images fade, along with herself. She was starting to sink. Deeper. Lower. _Another sip_. The tears were cascading down her cheeks but she could not remember why. What had made her cry? Those had to be the most beautiful golden eyes she’d ever seen but…where? _Another sip_. Her body began to feel like lead. Heavy. Stiff.

“ _G-Go to s-s-sleep Y/N_ ”, she heard a deep voice next to her. A heavy hand on her shoulder.

The chalice fell from her hand and she sunk into a darkness.

A void.

***

 _Cold_.

When he woke up, with his eyes still sealed shut, the coldness hit him. The warmth of her soft body was no longer pressed against him. The smell of her perfume was nothing more than a faint linger on the sheets. He knew she was gone. Dick knew the second he opened his eyes he would be alone. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for that realisation.

He reached out his hand and felt himself let out a silent sob at the empty space besides him. All that he felt was a soft pillow. Y/N wasn’t there. The room and the house were silent. She wasn’t downstairs cooking them breakfast. She wasn’t downstairs reading a new book or making them coffee. She wasn’t in the shower. _She was gone. For good._

After what felt like hours of preparing himself for the inevitable sight, he opened his eyes. The scene before him surprised Dick. A nearly folded knitted scarf and cream coloured letter.

 _‘To my soul mate’_ , was etched across the front.

This time, the sob he let out was strangled and loud. The pain. It was like nothing he’d experienced. Fuck. He could almost see himself shattered. Taking hold of the letter, he turned it over and sighed. Was he ready for this? Her parting words. The last thing he’d ever receive from her until they were reunited...but, what if they didn’t? _He couldn’t think like that. He’d promised her._

Ripping the wax seal on the back, Dick unfolded the paper with bated breath. He noticed her beautiful script handwriting and subconsciously ran his fingertips over the words. Desperate to feel her through the written words. Sitting up in the bed, Dick allowed himself to finally read through the letter.

***

_“Dick, my love,_

_I wish I could write down all the words to express how I truly feel about you. How you make me feel. But I can only say it as simply as this._

_I love you with all of my being. In this world and the next._

_When I was younger, my Mum said to me, ‘When you meet the right person, you just know it. You can't stop thinking about them. They are your best friend and your soulmate’. And she was right. That’s what you are, and more._

_You have shown me a world I never got the chance to see and you did it all, just to make me smile. And for that, I will be forever grateful. Though this mind may forget, my soul will always know. We just have to have faith. I know it’s hard now and it will be painful but our love will weather anything. We are meant to be, whichever life we live._

_In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine._

_I know it feels like we’re saying goodbye but we will carry a piece of each other into whatever we do next. When I left this morning, your locket was where you placed it, around my neck and hovering over my heart. Where it - and you - will always belong. The locket will keep me safe. How could it not? It’s the locket from the God of Travel._

_But, you must be asking. What piece of me will you be carrying with you? Whilst you were gone this past week, I made you something. It’s the scarf folded under the letter. I made it all the colours of the Northern Lights. The first time you kissed me. The place you had made for me, down here._

_Keep it with you and know you will always have me with you._

_We'll meet again, Don't know where, don't know when...But I know we’ll meet again, Some sunny day._

_All of my love,_

_Y/N”_

***


	5. Chapter 5

**TRICKS OF LOVE – CHAPTER 5**

_Hermes!Dick Grayson X Reader Series_

**Warnings – Language. Fluff.**

***

_**12 Months Later...** _

“You know, if the wind changes your face will stay like that and let me tell you, it’s not a good look brother”.

Dick scoffed hearing Jason’s insult and turned away heading deeper into the palace library, “You don’t usually bother me when I’m in here, what do you want?”.

He didn’t mean to be so short with his brother but, the last year had been so hard. He’d found it so hard to get out of bed and just, _live_.

Jason’s fingers skimmed the books along the shelves and he pulled one out, flicking through the pages mindlessly, “Is it a crime to check in with you?”.

“It is when it’s you. Seriously Jason, what do you want? I just came here to read and have some peace”, Dick sighed and turned his back to his brother, closing his eyes. Blocking out the dull throbbing in his temple. 

“Dick, look-”.

“Persephone sent you didn’t she? I’m- I’m sorry I’ve been quiet...I just, I wanted to keep myself to myself for a little while...especially after Y/N…it’s been-”.

“Difficult”.

“That’s putting it mildly”.

Jason felt his heart twinge at the sadness behind his brother's voice. He wanted to take it away for him but there was nothing he could do. He cursed inwardly and ran a hand through his unruly dark locks.

“Dick - _I need to talk to you_ ”.

“Jason, I’m not ready, I just need more time”.

“Please Dick”.

“ **No!!** ”, Dick turned around and faced his brother, his eyes glowing white, “I said I _need_ time!”.

Jason let out an irritated puff of air before launching the book in his hand towards Dick’s head.

“Persephone is **pregnant** ”.

The words knocked Dick sideways. She- his best friend...she was pregnant?

“Wha-”.

“This is what we’ve been trying to tell you for the last 3 months but you’ve been so unreachable - it’s got to the point I’ve had to trap you in my own damn library Dick”.

“ _Jay_ ”.

“ **No!** You need to shut up and listen to me”, Jason spoke over him angrily, his eyes jet black, “we get that you're heartbroken, we really do- but you’ve been living in this damn bubble for 12 months and you haven’t even seen Persephone. _Your_ best friend. _My wife_. My **pregnant** wife”.

Dick felt the guilt consume him. He’d done nothing. Nothing at all. He’d promised Y/N that he would find her. And he hadn’t moved an inch. He’d been wallowing in his own emotions and had now missed 3 months of his best friend's pregnancy.

“Jason...I’m - I’m so sorry”.

His brother shrugged, his blue eyes returning, “We get it, we really do. You’re grieving and you’ve lost someone special...but she wouldn’t want this. She wouldn’t want you behaving like this- not living. How are you supposed to find her again if you’re hiding in here?”.

Looking down at his shoes, Dick slumped and felt his shoulders sagging under the enormity of the emotions.

“Dick…”, Jason edged closer and softened his voice, he’d promised Persephone he wouldn’t fight with his brother, that he’d be supportive and so far, he’d thrown a book at his head, “You’re entitled to feel sad, you’re entitled to feel lonely but please, don’t stop being you...Y/N _wouldn’t_ want this. When she drank from that river, I sat with her. I watched her soul depart but before that she was convinced your love would bring you back together - don’t let her down”.

“You’re right”, Dick nodded and took a deep breath, “Persephone is - is pregnant?”.

A husky laugh escaped his brother's lips, “Yes she is, and I’ll be honest, I’m scared shitless”.

“I can’t believe it”.

“She’s so excited…she’s been waiting to share the news with you, said you’d be over the moon”.

“I am- I can’t - _fuck_ \- **you** \- _you_ are going to be a Dad”, Dick felt the first ripple of laughter leave his chest in what felt like a lifetime.

Jason smirked and chuckled with him, “I know. I’m terrified but she seems to think I’ll be amazing”.

Dick grinned and slapped his brother's shoulder, “Just don’t drop the baby on its head and you’ll be fine.

“Stella advice there, _why thank you_ ”, Jason replied, this voice dripping with sarcasm.

They laughed together for the first time in what felt like a lifetime to Dick. Jason gave him a knowing smile before patting his brother’s shoulder, “Good to see you smiling again brother”.

“It’s what...Y/N would have wanted”, Dick gave him a light smile in return before looking towards the ceiling, “Well...I think it’s time I paid a visit to your wife and see how she’s getting along!”.

“Great idea”.

***

Winter had really begun to settle into Gotham, the nights were drawing in closer, and the winds were bitter. Securing his scarf around his neck he headed out into the city, deciding to treat himself. Today would be the day he stopped moping around. He had to start living again, Jason was right. He’d promised Y/N that he wouldn’t wallow in self-pity. That he’d continue to be himself. So how better to start than visit the little donut shop on the corner of 10th Avenue. It had always been one of his favourites.

Dick couldn’t remember the last holiday he actually took. He used to travel every week. But that was mainly for Y/N. To come back and wow her with more and more extravagant stories. He smiled wistfully thinking of Y/N. Wondering how she was. Where she was. If she was happy. He hoped so.

Looking up at one of the skyscrapers in Gotham, a particularly strong gust of wind blew around him and whipped the scarf from around his neck, flying away rapidly.

Dick’s heart sank as he watched the scarf whip through the air, chasing after it desperately. He couldn’t lose it. That was all he had. The only thing he had left. Chasing after it wildly, he managed to grip onto one of the tassels before colliding into something small and actually, quite soft. He waited to hit the concrete fall but nothing. He landed on what felt like a pillow.

“ **Umph!!** ”, it was a woman’s voice.

_Oh crap_. He thought. He had to go and crush an innocent woman in the middle of Gotham central in front of hundreds of people. _Well done Dick_. He could almost hear the bark of laughter from his brother.

“Do you mind getting off me? You’re kinda crushing me”, she squeezed out, wriggling underneath him.

He jumped off her suddenly, holding his hand out absentmindedly to help her up, whilst securing the scarf back around his neck, “Shit, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you, I was trying to catch my-”, Dick finally looked at the woman properly and felt all of the air escape his lungs.

“ _Holy_ ** _fucking_** _hell fire_ ”.

She laughed at his words as she brushed down her coat, “That’s not a usual greeting I hear but it’s not the worst I’ve ever had”. Her accent was unusual for Gotham. It had a twang. A thick undertone _just like_...

Dick stared at her star struck. He felt his soul shift in her presence. There _she_ was. In the flesh. _His Y/N_. Granted she had different coloured hair now. It was a little longer and wavy. But she still looked perfect. Her eyes. God, those perfect eyes. They hadn’t changed a bit.

“Are you ok?”, the smile on her face dropped into a frown of concern when he didn’t respond, “Did you bang your head? I can call a cab and take you to A&E, if you have concussion-”.

“ **NO!** ”, he shouted before flushing pink at his outburst, “ _Sorry_ , sorry! I’m fine, I didn’t bang my head, I’m okay”, he let his eyes roam over her and saw the golden locket sparkle at him in the late afternoon sun. _God it really was her._ After twelve months of emotional turmoil, here she was, standing in front of him. He wasn’t sure how it was possible, but she looked even more beautiful than the last time he saw her.

“I- well, it’s not every day I collide with a beautiful woman”.

_Smooth_. He mentally praised himself. That was a good save - until he heard her cackle of laughter.

“Original”, she smirked and playfully rolled her eyes, “I might have been impressed if it didn’t take you so long to come up with that”.

Dick grinned, “Well”, he stepped closer, “I was so taken by your beauty that I was rendered speechless”.

_Smooth_ _Dick. Smooth._

“ _Oh!_ ”, she seemed genuinely surprised, “That _was_ a good one - kudos for that”.

She giggled softly and smiled at him. He winked in return and looked around them. Gotham had barely acknowledged their little incident or the exchange following it. This was nothing. Just an ordinary day to passers-by, but for Dick, _this was everything_.

“Can I get a name to go with your beautiful face?”, Dick bit the inside of his cheek. The memory of meeting her in the underworld flooding back to him. _Their dance. The riddle._ _The yellow rose._ He bit his cheek again harder, anything to stop the tears. He didn’t want to freak her out. She wouldn’t have a clue who he was.

“Y/N”, she held out her hand for him to shake and noticed a small yellow rose tattoo on her wrist. It was delicate, just like her.

Dick let his eyes trace over it before taking her hand in his, bringing it to his lips to kiss the back, “Richard but, everyone calls me Dick”.

“People can be cruel”, she joked and threw him a wink of her own.

He chuckled, “Can I maybe buy you a coffee? Since I crushed you an all, my way of apologising”.

She seemed to ponder the question before answering excitedly, “Sure! I know a really cute little coffee shop just downtown, the owner is Greek and he’s really sweet. I always stop by each morning before I head into the office”.

“Sounds perfect”.

Y/N looked around, the first snow of winter began to fall around them. She held her hand out between them and caught a snowflake, “Sorry”, she blushed going shy for a second, “I just - I’ve always loved the snow”.

Dick felt a swell of pride, “Me too”.

“There’s something about it, it’s just so-”.

“ _ **Magical**_ ”, they both spoke at the same time and she chuckled. Dick couldn’t stop his stomach from somersaulting.

“Shall we?”, he held out his arm for her to take and without question she slipped her arm around his heading downtown with Dick.

“That’s a really beautiful necklace you have”, he said casually as they continued to walk leisurely down the sidewalk.

She smiled and touched it subconsciously, “Oh, thank you, it’s an old family heirloom, I’ve had it ever since I was born...supposed to protect you when you travel and yeah, I’ve been all over the place!”.

Dick felt his body light with warmth and nodded, “You can tell me all about your travels over that coffee”.

“I think it’d take more than _one_ coffee”, she laughed and Dick felt her hold his arm a little tighter when the icy wind whipped around them.

“Well, then maybe we can have dinner too”, he suggested.

“ _Sounds perfect_ ”, she mimicked his earlier reply and grinned sideways at him.

Heading down the next block, the streetlights flickered on one by one, sun setting in the distance behind the towering buildings. Dick looked down at her, she noted how his eyes seemed to sparkle with flecks of gold.

“Tell me Y/N... _do you believe in fate_?”.

**—FIN—**

*******


End file.
